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The Avanti Group reviews, U.S. Stocks Gain as Middle East Shares Slump, Metals Drop

U.S. stocks rose for a second day, led by chipmakers and automobile companies, and Treasuries fell as the Federal Reserve said the economy maintained a “modest to moderate” pace of growth. Shares in the Middle East sank as the U.S. moved closer to a military strike against Syria.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) increased 0.8 percent to 1,653.08 at 4 p.m. in New York. Benchmark gauges in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Dubai lost more than 2 percent. The S&P GSCI (SPGSCI) gauge of 24 commodities dropped 0.7 percent as metals led losses. Ten-year Treasury yields increased four basis points to 2.90 percent, while the Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Index retreated for the first time in six days. The Australian dollar rose against 15 of 16 major peers after the economy accelerated.

Micron Technology Inc. paced a rally in chipmakers as a fire forced a Korean competitor to suspend operations at a factory in China, while General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. climbed after monthly U.S. sales growth exceeded estimates. The Fed’s Beige Book survey showed consumers spent more on travel and tourism while manufacturing expanded, as investors searched for clues to the central bank’s plans for stimulus. Stocks maintained gains as a Senate panel authorized a limited military strike in Syria.

“Managers actually are fairly bullish on the environment,” Arvin Soh, a New York-based fund manager with GAM, said by phone. His firm has more than $120 billion under management. “The view has been, ‘yes we have some serious issue with Syria, but at the end of the day, growth is improving.’”